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STC Relies on NetApp to Operate the Middle East’s Largest OpenStack-Based Public CloudRunning a cloud business on OpenStack is a clear statement for open source and its cost advantages. When STC looked for data storage to power its OpenStack cloud, it looked for high flexibility to deliver new services and for cost efficiency to support competitive end-user pricing. Finally, STC chose NetApp to leverage industry-leading integration with OpenStack.

SAUDI TELECOM COMPANY | PROBLEM SOLVED

To expand leadership and market footprint in the cloud business, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) selected NetApp® flash storage for best-in-class cloud services running on OpenStack.

GAINED CHOICE,

MAXIMUM APPLICATION AVAILABILITY, AND

INSURANCE AGAINST VENDOR LOCK-IN

AN AMBITIOUS CUSTOMERSTC is the largest telecommu-nication services provider in the Middle East and North Africa and serves over 100 million customers. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, STC is the nation’s leading operator, with nine regional subsidiaries.

The company drives mobile and broadband services and provides fixed, mobile, and data solutions for enterprise and consumer custom-ers. With over $12 billion in annual revenue and a market capitalization exceeding $29 billion, STC is well equipped to pursue its ambitious cloud plans.

EXPAND MARKET LEADERSHIP WITH OPENSTACKThe Middle East is rapidly embrac-ing the cloud, requiring service pro-viders to launch attractive offerings to meet customers’ demand. STC, widely known as an information and communications technology (ICT) innovator, took on the chal-lenge and is committed to leading the fast-emerging cloud market. To power and grow its cloud services, STC selected OpenStack. Thus, the provider furthers its open-source strategy, allowing for vendor-neutral selection of best-in-class technology.

“OpenStack is becoming de facto for big cloud players and has clear cost advantages over proprietary solutions. Already today we save 25% on operational expenses, and we avoid the downfall of a vendor lock-in,” explains Saleh Mosaibah, vice president, B2B marketing planning & alliances at STC.

FIND THE PERFECT DATA STORAGE MATCHWhen considering a storage solution to power its OpenStack cloud, STC looked for a solution that delivers high flexibility for new services and cost efficiency to support competitive end-user pricing. STC turned to NetApp, a charter member of the OpenStack Foundation and part of hundreds of OpenStack deployments all over the world, to implement STC’s stringent requirements.

NetApp is the number-one enter-prise-class storage vendor for OpenStack and has a large cloud footprint and partner ecosystem. The NetApp cloud teams can quickly develop new offerings and go-to-market programs with spe-cialized technical and commercial experts. All these credentials give customers such as STC a lot of con-fidence to choose NetApp solutions.

SELECT NETAPP FOR BEST-IN-CLASS SERVICESFor the cloud platform spanning multiple STC data centers, including Riyadh and Jeddah, NetApp recom-mended a hybrid storage system based on its FAS8000 series run-ning the world’s number 1 storage operating system, ONTAP®*.

NetApp met STC’s critical cloud needs with OpenStack-addressable enterprise-class storage. STC can instantly access a wealth of features and functions, including advanced storage efficiency, data protection, rapid cloning, nonstop operations, performance assurance, and scale-out capabilities, with NetApp value-add fully integrated and available using the standard OpenStack API.

Thanks to the advanced integra-tion of NetApp with OpenStack, cloud deployment becomes sim-pler, faster, and more scalable. The drivers for OpenStack block (Cinder), file (Manila), and object storage (Swift) are fully integrated into NetApp technologies, enabling self-service IT provisioning, and STC’s developers can provision cloud environments on demand without involving IT.

STC has already put in place soft-ware and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) within the STC cloud and provides a one-stop shop for all business cloud needs based on its Bluvalt cloud initiative. STC’s IaaS solution offers its customers nearly unlimited choice of servers, storage, and network connectivity, which is available on demand and with a growing list of key workloads and applications.

BRING DIFFERENTIATED VALUES TO CLOUD CUSTOMERSWith STC’s Cloud Marketplace, the STC cloud brings value and freedom of choice to customers, who can:

• Set up a 100% customizable vir-tual data center powered by the Bluvalt platform

• Populate the virtual data cen-ter with applications built from scratch or choose from many ready-made deployments

• Select from a variety of cloud services: usage based or with subscription plans

• Enjoy a single bill for all services and 24/7 support in Arabic and English

“The STC Cloud Marketplace also provides a scalable and secure on-demand infrastructure for soft-ware partners. They can market their products and have all typical cloud benefits without any upfront capex,” states Mosaibah.

DRIVE CLOUD BUSINESS WITH NETAPPInvesting in NetApp has long-term value for STC. NetApp offers its Data Fabric strategy, which uni-fies data mobility with seamless data management. STC can easily manage customer data across data

TURNS FUTURE NEEDS

INTO INNOVATION BY COMBINING

OPENSTACK WITH NETAPP

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• Can rely on NetApp’s continued development of and seamless integration with the OpenStack platform

• Provided a cost effective scale-up and scale-out platform

• Earned high customer satisfaction for platform reliability, scalability, and security

• Increased cloud choice and business agility for its customers using STC Marketplace

• Set to meet market leadership objective

centers equipped with NetApp as well as offer its customers the real-ity of instantly interoperating with other clouds, including hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, providing choice, maximum application availability, and insurance against vendor lock-in.

Leading organizations worldwide count on NetApp for software, systems and services to manage and store their data. Customers value our teamwork, expertise and passion for helping them succeed now and into the future. www.netapp.com

© 2017 NetApp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. CSS-6929-0317

SOLUTION COMPONENTS

NETAPP PRODUCTS

NetApp FAS8040 4-node cluster with SAS and SSD drives

NetApp clustered Data ONTAP 8.3 with Flash Pool™ intelligent caching

Premium software bundle

Professional services and training

ENVIRONMENT

OpenStack Mitaka

OpenStack Mirantis Distribution

PROTOCOL

NFS

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* Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker 2016 Q3, December 2016 (Open Networked Enterprise Storage Systems revenue)

BECOME THE CLOUD LEADER IN THE REGIONThe cloud market in the Middle East is dominated by regional players. With its dominant market presence and far-seeing investments, STC is capitalizing on the cloud opportu-nity. By offering key services and support from a trusted brand, the company sets the bar high for fast, reliable, and cost-effective cloud services in the Middle East.

“With our current offering and momentum, STC is already ahead of the competition,” confirms Mosaibah. “But this is only the

beginning. Customers and partners will see more powerful services coming from STC.”

By combining OpenStack with NetApp, STC can more easily meet changing market demands and can turn future needs into innovation. As an active community mem-ber, NetApp is truly committed to OpenStack and to delivering new features and releases, which can also support STC’s cloud program.